Coulthard explains Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri comparison to Hamilton vs Verstappen

David Coulthard believes the F1 2025 title battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris can be compared to Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen in 2021.

Explaining that comparison, Coulthard said both Verstappen and Hamilton “drove like World Champions” in 2021, but only one could take that crown. He believes the same is true for Piastri and Norris this season.

Oscar Piastri versus Lando Norris: Shades of 2021?

In one of the greatest seasons in Formula 1 history, rising star Max Verstappen and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton went blow-for-blow for the 2021 World Championship. They went into the final round in Abu Dhabi level on points, where Verstappen prevailed, ending Hamilton’s run of dominance.

Skip forward to F1 2025, and there is little to choose between McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as they battle for the Drivers’ Championship. It has evolved into a two-horse race, and with 10 rounds to go, just nine points split the duo in Piastri’s favour.

After a trophy-laden junior career, Piastri is looking to reach the pinnacle by becoming Formula 1 World Champion. Norris meanwhile, the experienced hand at McLaren, is looking to turn his first shot at the World title into victory. Winning three of the last four grands prix has boosted his cause.

This is a battle which could go all the way down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, like in 2021. Someone must win, someone must lose, and Coulthard sees the mirroring between both campaigns.

“If it was half a World Championship, Oscar’s won,” Coulthard told the Formula 1 website. “I don’t think anyone could say he hasn’t deserved to be leading – he was leading before [the McLarens] came together in Canada.

“But if Lando turns it around in the second half of the season, he’s doing it against someone that’s a talented third year F1 driver.

“It’s a bit like 2021, where some people are still so vocal about what happened… only one driver could win. Both Max and Lewis Hamilton drove like World Champions that year, but only one of them could have the title.

“I think McLaren have handled it really well. I think both their drivers are on the tamer side of animal than the wilder side of animal, so that probably makes it a little bit easier.

“But this could also be their only chance to win a World title; we don’t know what 2026 brings, we don’t know what the future is, so you’ve got to seize the moment. That’s why I’m really impressed with how Oscar has stepped up this year.

“But Lando’s response is showing his quality as well. I think it’s going to be one of those things where both of them deserve it, but only one can get it.”

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

As Coulthard alludes to, the on-track competition has been almost exclusively clean between the McLarens, lacking the extreme fireworks produced by Hamilton and Verstappen. Their many comings together sparked a rivalry which spread through the Mercedes and Red Bull camps.

The one blip for McLaren was Canada, where Norris – chasing Piastri for fourth – hit the back of the sister McLaren and then the wall, eliminating himself from the race.

Minus a few near-misses like in Hungary down at Turn 1, the heartrates at McLaren have been pretty stable.

“I predicted the coming together of the two McLaren drivers, because I’ve been there and done that,” Coulthard added. “I crashed into Mika Hakkinen, he crashed into me.

“And it’s always going to be the case that no matter how tight a team is, once you have the intensity of both drivers having a chance to win, then that’s going to get more and more complicated.”

McLaren has built what is looking like unassailable leads at the top of the standings. The highest-ranked non-McLaren driver, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, is 97 points off top spot. In the Constructors’, McLaren’s closest rivals Ferrari sit 299 point behind.

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